New superintendent, chief teacher negotiator feel team effort
paved the way for smooth 1-year agreement
paved the way for smooth 1-year agreement
By Bruce Rolfe
While new Galesburg-Augusta Superintendent Dr. Lindsey Newton was hired as the district’s new superintendent only a little over two months ago, two significant issues the district faced have been wrapped up.
The G-A Board of Education and Newton, who was G-A High School principal before she was hired as the district’s new superintendent June 5 when former superintendent Wendy Somers retired, needed to fill the high school principal position.
The G-A School Board and G-A Teachers Association were also involved with teacher negotiations while Somers was still the superintendent.
The G-A School Board under Newton’s leadership, recently filled the high school principal position by hiring current K-12 Curriculum and Instructional Specialist Theresa King as the new interim principal for the 2024-2025 school year.
The G-A School Board and Teachers Association worked through negotiations in a positive manner that led to a 1-year agreement with the district’s teachers at a special school board meeting July 29.
G-A Education Association Chief Negotiator Eric Curtiss said the teachers also approved the tentative agreement.
The new agreement includes schedule A wage adjustments for 2024-2025 that includes any staff eligible for a step increase will receive the increase, lane change increases for moving from a Bachelor’s degree to a Master’s degree, and a longevity scale that was added last year will continue in the new contract.
The two sides will meet before November 1, 2024 after the audited student count to bargain any on schedule and/or off schedule compensation in a wage reopener. The parties will only bargain schedule A wages.
The two sides also agree to eliminate step 1 from the 2023-2024 salary and add a new step at the top of the salary schedule, which Curtiss said has been increased by approximately three percent.
One concern during Newton’s public interview for the superintendent position was a lack of negotiating experience, however the new G-A superintendent points out she was actually at the negotiating table in April as a shadow administrator when former Superintendent Wendy Somers and the board began negotiating with the teachers.
Both Newton and Curtiss felt a collaborative effort between the two sides helped the agreement come together rather smoothly.
“The district’s attorneys helped out quite a bit because we had all of the changes in the laws from last year from the state legislator. I would call it a team effort with everybody, our side and their side, just trying to figure out what was best and how to interpret the new laws. I thought everything went better then expected and we were able to reach some good concluding starting points for us,” said Curtiss.
The two hope securing a new agreement and having a new interim high school principal in place a month before school starts offers a fresh and positive start heading into the new school year.
“The pieces are falling into place like they should. That takes a village to make that happen. Getting everybody on board and getting their thoughts at the table to come to an agreement is very important for the direction of G-A, so I’m very excited,” said Newton.
“We have a lot of new people in these positions so it will be interesting to see how that works, but I think it’s a good opportunity for a fresh take and a fresh start and a good starting point. I think the staff is ready to make some positive changes,” adds Curtiss.
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